Thursday, August 16, 2012

Lady Saint of Death

Santa Muerte, literal meaning -Lady Saint of Death, is a Mexican folk saint, worshipped by many criminals as well as those who might need help with some other activity (gambling) that might fall outside of the normal boundaries of concern for a Catholic saint.

Santa Muerte, a skeleton saint [], cult has attracted millions of devotees over the past decade. Although condemned by mainstream churches, this folk saint's supernatural powers appeal to millions of Latin Americans and immigrants in the U.S. Devotees believe the Bony Lady (as she is affectionately called) to be the fastest and most effective miracle worker, and as such, her statuettes and paraphernalia now outsell those of the Virgin of Guadalupe and Saint Jude, two other giants of Mexican religiosity. In particular, [] Santa Muerte has become the patron saint of drug traffickers, playing an important role as protector of peddlers of crystal meth and marijuana; DEA agents and Mexican police often find her altars in the safe houses of drug smugglers. Yet Saint Death plays other important roles: she is a supernatural healer, love doctor, money-maker, lawyer, and angel of death. She has become without doubt one of the most popular and powerful saints on both the Mexican and American religious landscapes.   from the Summary of  Devoted to Death Andrew Chestnut Professor of Religious Studies at Virginia Commonwealth University 
On the humble backgrounds of the Mexican Streets, started by a humble street vendor, she was   given her first nudge to greater  stature when her son who was released from prison early.  The street vender's  home has become a mecca for the many believers.  The video link by video link to the Fox News report (hat tip: Borderland Beat) gives additional background.

When you start looking you can find her imagery everywhere:

Sanat Muerta in a traditional look


14k Gold Pendant for Sale


Tatoos

There are even reports of bobble headed Santa Muertes on dashboards, but the closest image I could find looks more like her good friend Death.
Everyone needs a bobbleheaded Death to show there driving skills


2 comments:

PioneerPreppy said...

I have seen a tat or two especially when I lived in El Paso a while back.

russell1200 said...

PP: It supliments the teardrops I guess.